Pursued
by Ezlyphe
Summary: All is well in Berk. That is, it was until a mysterious Night Fury shows up with trouble close on its tail. Toothless/OC
1. A Downed Dragon is a Dead Dragon

**Author's Note:**

**I know what you all are thinking, not ANOTHER fanfic with some random OC all up in it! And I apologize but I couldn't help it. I've wanted to write a HTTYD fanfic for a long time and reading Alice W. Rabbit's fics really inspired me.**

**If you don't like OCs then….I guess you shouldn't read.**

**Chapter 1: A Downed Dragon is a Dead Dragon**

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third! You get your lazy butt up this _instant_!"

Hiccup sluggishly opened one eye, not at all pleased with the sudden interruption of a particularly interesting dream, and stared up at the source of the high-pitched shriek. The tall blonde that was stood above Hiccup's bed had nothing in her hard gaze but pure annoyance.

"A-Astrid? What're you doing here?" he groaned sleepily, putting an arm over his eyes in an attempt to block out the bright rays of sunlight that shone through his now open window.

Astrid flipped her bangs out of her left eye and put her hands on her hips, all the while her glare intensified ten-fold. For such a petite Viking one wouldn't think she could be so intimidating.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you forgot…" She promptly grabbed Hiccup's pillow right from underneath his head and hit him square in the face with. "We have to help the younger students with the dragons today." She dropped the pillow back onto his bed. "You volunteered, remember?" She added when he gave her a drowsy and slightly confused look.

Oh, that's right.

It's been about a year since the Red Death was taken down and peace was restored in the Viking village. Now that the students were being taught to ride dragons instead of fighting them they needed a really good teacher and Hiccup, being the first ever Viking to ride a dragon was also the best.

* * *

Astrid let herself out of Hiccup's room to allow him a chance to get ready in privacy. She let out an irritated sigh while she walked down the stairs into the living room where Toothless lay by the fireplace. The noise caused the dragon to lift his head but he put it back down and tried to resume his nap.

After walking around in circles restlessly Astrid finally decided to take a seat next to Toothless while she waited for Hiccup. He was supposed to meet her and the class at the arena this morning. But after a half an hour of waiting and no Hiccup, Astrid took it upon herself to look for him; which is why he was greeted with such a rude awakening.

She let out another sigh and gently rested her hand on Toothless' head. "Why is your rider such an incompetent idiot?" She grumbled.

Toothless looked up at the girl with a blank stare. She knew he couldn't understand a word she was saying but that didn't stop her from venting to the large reptile. Toothless just kept quiet.

When Hiccup finally came down Astrid wasted no time in rushing him out of the house, shouting angrily and berating him for his lazy behaviour. _Humans… _Toothless thought to himself with a slightly amused shake of the head when the door slammed roughly behind the two.

* * *

"Sorry we're late everyone!" Astrid said as she and Hiccup approached the small group of children. "Some of us decided to sleep in today…" She gave Hiccup a knowing shove, to which he responded with an embarrassed grin.

"S-sorry everyone…" He mumbled, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. You'd think with him being the saviour of Berk Astrid would give him a little more slack. Apparently not.

After dragon training the kids went home with slightly burnt fingers and singed hair but their enthusiasm to learn about the creatures were unharmed. Astrid watched the rowdy group of pre-teens as they ambled their way out of the arena, all claiming to be the next best dragon rider. At that she gave a small smile.

Unknown to Astrid, Hiccup was watching her. And the sight of her smiling caused a smile to creep onto his face as well. Astrid looked up to find him staring at her and he quickly looked away, his face a slight shade of pink. Astrid chuckled and walked over to where he stood and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. The colour on his face intensified.

He knew it was a silent apology for the way she barged into his room and nearly ripped his head off for sleeping in. It was bad but not _that_ bad. She wasn't good with words to show how much she was sorry but Hiccup certainly didn't mind this method either. After they packed up, Hiccup and Astrid decided to take the longer route home; a scenic route through the forest that always seem to put Astrid in a good mood.

As they walked past a particularly dense forest of trees they heard a strange noise that came from the foliage. At first they thought it was nothing more than a small woodland animal but the rustling of the leaves became louder and more incessant. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and proceeded into the bushes to investigate the source of the strange sound. They eventually reached a clearing but nothing was there, save for a few birds nesting in nearby branches.

"Hmm…" Hiccup scanned the bushes for a sign of the creature that made the noise. Nothing.

"Maybe it was nothing." Astrid said with a shrug and turned around to head back to the trail.

"Yeah, maybe…" Hiccup agreed, still a bit reluctant to leave right away. Just as he was about to follow Astrid out of the clearing he heard the noise again and quickly turned around to see a dragon dragging itself out of the bushes on the other end of the clearing.

Hiccup stopped in his tracks and almost stopped breathing. This wasn't just _any_ dragon. Staring back at him with wide eyes was a Night Fury. "Astrid…" he called out, not taking his eyes off the dragon. "Astrid!"

"What _is_ it Hiccup? I thought we were -" Astrid walked back, slightly annoyed but stopped mid-sentence when she saw the Night Fury watching them both carefully.

It was silent for a while. Nobody spoke and nobody moved. Nobody even blinked. The strange Night Fury was the first to do something. It inched backwards, trying to get back into the bushes behind it without making any sudden movements. But Hiccup decided to take a small step forward and the dragon jumped back. But it stopped and gave a small whine, lifting its left front leg from the ground. It was hurt.

Hiccup also noticed that its right wing was bent at a weird angle. It was definitely injured and unable to fly. Hiccup took another step forward and the dragon lowered itself closer to the ground and let out a warning hiss, its pupils now thin slits.

"Hiccup, be careful." Astrid warned, still rooted to the spot.

"I know," he responded, still taking little baby steps towards the distressed dragon. "But it looks like it's hurt. I just want to check it out." But the dragon didn't agree with this for it let out a growl. Hiccup noticed that there wasn't anger in its large green eyes but panic. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered, holding up his hands to show that he had no weapons and meant no harm.

But the dragon quickly turned around and jumped back into the bushes. Not caring if its leg was in an enormous amount of pain, just desperate to get away from the humans.

"Well that was weird…" Astrid commented while joining Hiccup in the now dragon-less clearing.

"Yeah," he mumbled, still staring at the spot the Night Fury just was. "But it needs help… There's no way it can survive like that out here. I don't think it can even fly. "

"We'll come back tomorrow. It was obviously scared of us so we have to find a way to get it to trust us first."

With that Astrid walked off and Hiccup followed soon after. The words Gobber told them when they had first started dragon training rang in his ears.

_A downed dragon is a dead dragon._


	2. Gaining Trust

**Chapter 2: Gaining Trust**

"Don't tell me you're still worrying about that dragon." Astrid said, walking up behind Hiccup. They were now at the workshop. Hiccup still kept his job as assistant blacksmith to Gobber but today he couldn't seem to concentrate on the sword he was working on.

He looked up at her. "I can't help it…" he frowned. "That dragon…we've got to do something."

"And we will," Astrid responded with a reassuring smile and put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "From the way it was acting there is no way it'll let us anywhere near it. Like I said, we just have to find a way for it to trust us."

Hiccup nodded in agreement. But for the life of him he couldn't think of a way to earn the Night Fury's trust.

"What about food?"

"Huh?" Hiccup looked up.

"Dragons love fish right?" Astrid continued. "Why don't we lure it out with some? I mean, we don't know how long it's been out there but I bet it's probably starving. And feeding it might get it to trust us."

Hiccup stayed quiet for a while, contemplating the idea. After a few moments of silence, he abruptly jumped up.

"THAT'S IT, ASTRID! YOU'RE A GENIUS!"

And without another word Hiccup dashed out of the shop, leaving Astrid alone with a bewildered look.

* * *

"I hope this works." Hiccup grunted as he dragged the large basket of fish across the rocky ground.

"Need some help with that?" Astrid asked with a small smirk. She had to admit, it was amusing to see one of the weakest Vikings on Berk try his hand at the task of carrying such a heavy object but she knew they didn't have all day.

"Nah, I got it." He said, waving his hand dismissively. But he had to stop in order to catch his breath. Leaning on the basket for support, Hiccup looked over at Astrid. He held up his finger to give himself a moment to regain his composure.

"Here." Astrid said, lifting the basket off the ground with particular ease and walking ahead while Hiccup stood with an incredulous look on his face.

"No! No! Wait, I...uh...got...ok."

Once they were back in the clearing where they first met the wild Night Fury Astrid dropped the basket onto the ground and kicked it over with her booted foot. A pile of raw fish tumbled out and Astrid realised she wasn't a big fan of the smell. Holding back her lunch she trod over to where Hiccup was hiding behind some undergrowth.

"I hope this works." Hiccup said for about the 100th time, his eyebrows knitted together.

Astrid sighed and rolled her eyes. "It wi-"

Hiccup shushed her. Under normal circumstances Astrid would have retaliated with a swift kick to the shins for the interruption but at that moment the Night Fury slowly crawled out of the bushes.

It had picked up on the scent of the fish and Hiccup was right. It was starving and came as quickly as it could on its injured leg. But it had also picked up the scent of the pesky humans and slowed when it came close to the basket. It stared directly into the bushes where Astrid and Hiccup were crouched. Not taking its eyes off of them it limped towards the fish and carefully took one into its mouth. When it realized that the two teens weren't going to do anything it relaxed a bit and scarfed down more fish while not completely letting its guard down.

When it finished off its meal (sniffing around in the basket in hopes that there was more) the Night Fury looked up to see Astrid a Hiccup sneaking out of the bushes and closer to it. It pitched up and growled, causing them to stop in their tracks. Hiccup noticed that most of the fear in its eye was gone; though distrust still remained.

They continued to inch forward until the dragon backed up and wobbled back into the bushes. Astrid and Hiccup didn't follow it, though it would have been easier now because it was slowed down with not only an incapacitated leg but a full stomach. Hiccup also noticed that it allowed them to get much closer before it fled. _Maybe it's coming around…_

Next plan. For the rest of the day the duo tried everything they could think of to lure the dragon out but nothing succeeded. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was setting. They didn't want to do this but they were getting desperate. Hiccup – being the innovative genius that he is – built an elaborate trap in order to catch the dragon.

"And you're sure this is going to work?" Astrid asked, wearily eying the strange contraption. It looked like some sort of inverted catapult with a net. The rope that connected the net to the catapult was hanging over a tree branch and the net lay on the forest floor covered by dirt and a few leaves and twigs.

"Positive." Hiccup grinned and carefully put a small fish in the centre of the camouflaged net. Bait, apparently. "Well, almost positive." He said with a slight shrug.

"Hiccup!"

"What? Nothing else is going to work. This is probably our last option."

"Hmm…that's true." Astrid admitted. But she still wasn't happy about it.

"Ok, it's coming." Hiccup whispered and dragged Astrid by the hand into their hiding spot.

The Night Fury, allured into the spot by the tempting smell of a small snack, popped its head out of the bushes and crept over to the fish. But it stopped when it came close to the net. Something didn't feel right. Its ears twitched and it scanned the bushes for its new-found stalkers. When the dragon picked up on their scents it trotted over to where they were and lowered the upper part of its body to the ground while raising its hind into the air. It swished its tail around playfully and let out a bark.

Well they weren't expecting that.

"What's it doing?" Astrid asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe it wants to play?"

Another bark and it began to jog around in small circles, though its movement was hindered by the limp. The perplexed humans slowly crawled from the bushes and walked over to the Night Fury. It began to run around and Astrid and Hiccup followed suit, unsure at first but after a while they began to get into it.

"I think it trusts us now!" Hiccup yelled over to Astrid, who nodded happily in agreement.

They weren't paying attention to where the dragon was leading them, so they didn't notice the Night Fury shuffling towards the trap. It stopped and jumped over the net but Astrid and Hiccup weren't so lucky for as soon as they stepped foot in the net, the trap went off and they found themselves caught up in tangled limbs, hovering above the ground.

The Night Fury sat and watched, with amusement, the two as they rocked in their own trap. Happy with the mental picture it took; the dragon got up and limped away.

It took them a moment to let what happened sink in.

"_It tricked us_!" Astrid shrieked in total disbelieve.

_Smart dragon…_ Hiccup admitted to himself.

They stayed like that for Thor knows how long. Hiccup never built a mechanism so that they could free themselves in case something like this happened and neither brought a knife to cut through the thick ropes. They were stuck.

Astrid was still pissed and Hiccup was too tired to even care anymore. Someone was bound to either find them or notice that they were missing and come out looking for them. Hopefully.

"Grrww..."

Hiccup looked up to see the Night Fury standing in front of them. Its pupils were rounder and its large eyes showed remorse. Astrid was about to start shouting but Hiccup shushed her and waited to see what would happen. It came up to them and began gnawing at the rope with its sharp teeth. In seconds they were free. Hiccup reached out a shaking hand towards the Night Fury who let out an involuntary growl when his hand got too close but stayed quite when he moved in closer. When his palm made contact with the rough, scaly skin of the creature Hiccup let out a relieved sigh and turned to Astrid, who gave a slightly forced smile.

She didn't know how long it would take for her to forgive the dragon's craftiness.

**Author's Note:**

**Hmmm…not that good of a chapter. A bit boring and long, I know. A few words are so over-used, lol. Oh well, hopefully the next will be more interesting. **


	3. Healer

**Chapter 3: Healer**

"Wow, wait till the village sees _you_!" Hiccup gushed.

He and Astrid were now heading back to their village, dragon in tow, and Hiccup couldn't seem to shut up about how amazing it was to have found another Night Fury. Astrid agreed, glancing down at the dragon walking between them. Its head was down so Astrid couldn't see the downcast look that it was wearing.

The Night Fury silently listened to the two humans squawking above it; it didn't know where they were going but it knew it was better than staying out in the forest with an injured leg and wing. Wherever these humans were taking it, it hoped they would be able to do something about its wounds so it can leave before anyone got hurt…

_Just a quick patch up and some rest. Maybe some more fish_. Yeah, then it'll be on its way.

When they had reached their destination the Night Fury looked up at the village laid out before them. It wasn't like anything it had ever seen. In a word: quaint. The only sources of light were the pale silvery glow coming from the moon up above and the faint orange glow of the oil lamps coming from the windows of the villager's houses.

The Night Fury studied its surroundings inquisitively as they made their way to a small cottage near the middle of the village. Hiccup knocked on the wooden door and they waited.

"Hold on! Hold on!" A voice shouted from the other side of the door. The sound of various items crashing to the floor came soon after and the door opened to reveal a squat elderly woman. She was funny looking thing to the dragon. She had old, wrinkly skin, tiny eyes that were just half-opened and a face that showed the evidence of a long, hard life. Her long grey braids dragged listlessly on the floor behind her.

"Sorry to have bothered you at this hour, Ymma," Hiccup apologized to the old woman. "But we have a problem and we need your help." He stepped sideways so that the dragon was in a better view of the old healer. "This Night Fury we found, it's injured; nothing serious though, just a broken leg and wing."

The woman named Ymma squinted at the Night Fury with slightly unfocused eyes. "Well, why didn't you say so, Hiccup!" she suddenly beamed. "I would be more than happy to help you with Toothless."

"Huh? Oh, no this isn't Toothless!" Hiccup corrected. "It's a wild Night Fury we found and -"

"I'll have a look at Toothless and you can pick him up in the morning!" she said brightly, ushering the very confused Night Fury into her home.

"It's…not…ah, well okay. We'll come back tomorrow," Hiccup found it much easier to not argue with the old woman or they would be out there all night. He turned to the Night Fury, placing his hand on its nose to calm it down. "Don't worry, you're in good hands."

And he was right. Ymma might be the oldest and craziest resident of Berk but no one has yet been able to match her skills in the art of healing. And she did make for interesting company. After the door closed on the retreating figures of Astrid and Hiccup, Ymma turned to the Night Fury with a nearly tooth-less grin.

"My my, I haven't seen you in a while Toothless. Huh, but you seem to have gotten…smaller." After a few moments of staring, she shrugged. "Oh, well. Let's get started." She shuffled across the room to grab a few things. When she turned back to the Night Fury there were a few bandages and bottles of strange liquid in her arms.

The Night Fury eyed the peculiar woman wearily as she came closer and backed away, hissing a bit when she got too close. The dragon wasn't going to actually harm the old lady; it just seemed to be a reaction it had learnt while being around other Vikings. Ymma stopped and blinked bewilderedly. But she smiled and continued her advancement. This time the Night Fury stayed silent and allowed the healer to tend to its wounds.

After that was done the wild dragon was lying comfortably on a pile of pillows and blankets in front of a small fireplace. The old healer had left and went back to bed, leaving the Night Fury alone. Its front leg was wrapped in some bandages, as well as its wing. Just as it was about to doze off, a hissing sound woke it back up and its ears stood straight up in alarm. Scuttling out of the darkness was a small dragon, barely the height of the Night Fury's leg. Its large eyes glared up at the bigger dragon as it let out another hiss, obviously upset over the fact that another dragon was in its home. Uninvited, as far as the Terror was concerned.

An un-amused look crossed the Night Fury's face and it turned around so that its back was to the Terrible Terror and lay back down. Offended, the tiny dragon jumped onto the Night Fury's back and began biting its ears and face though to the other dragon it barely registered. Too tired to do anything but ignore the nuisance, the Night Fury closed its eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Morning came too quickly for the Night Fury's liking. Streams of sunlight filtered through a near-by window, making it almost impossible to go back to sleep. While it was getting up, it noticed a slight weight pressing down on its back. Apparently the Terrible Terror had gotten all tuckered out from its "attack" and fell asleep right on top of the Night Fury. Snorting, the Night Fury got up, sending the small dragon rather ungracefully to the floor.

Ignoring the huffs and puffs of aggravation from the Terror, the Night Fury let out a yawn and stretched. That's when it remembered that its wing and leg were still braced. I shook off the mild pang of pain and stopped to realize that its stomach was growling. It was hungry.

"I see you're up, Toothless." A voice came from the staircase. Ymma smiled and walked over to the Night Fury, petting it on its nose to which it responded with a purr.

The Terror growled and ran over to the old healer; rubbing its body against her leg and letting out an affectionate purr of its own. "Good morning to you too, Hitcher" she said, chuckling a bit and picking up her pet. "Good boy." She cooed, scratching the dragon under his chin.

Hitcher leered over at the Night Fury, revelling in the fact that he was small enough to be picked up and cuddled like that and this intruding dragon wasn't.

"I bet you two are hungry," she mumbled, carrying Hitcher over to the 'kitchen'. They came back with two small plates of raw fish with a few pieces of meat mixed in there. Hitcher wasted no time once he was set down and started eating right away. The Night Fury also began eating when its meal was place in front of it.

After breakfast, the Night Fury lied back down on its makeshift bed, not tired enough to go back to sleep nor awake enough to actually do something active. So it just stayed there, watching the dying embers of the fire with half-lidded eyes. _I wonder when those two humans are going to come back…_ The thought crossed its mind and as if on cue there was a knock on the door.

Ymma walked over to answer it, knocking over a shield and axe in the process. There they were. Hiccup and Astrid.

"Good to see you." Ymma greeted, allowing them inside. "Toothless is doing just fine. He should be flying again by next week. No trouble at all."

Hiccup gave a polite smile and Astrid tried to hide her laughter.

"That's great. We'll be on our way now." Hiccup said, walking over to the Night Fury who got up and licked his hand in greeting.

They said their goodbyes (all except for Hitcher, who was more than happy to see the back of the Night Fury) and went on their way.

"Well it looks like Ymma did a pretty good job on his leg and wing." Hiccup commented to fill the empty silence.

"How do you know it's a he?" Astrid countered.

"Huh? Well...I…" Hiccup stopped. That was a very good question. With Toothless he had just assumed the dragon was a boy and luckily he had been right. But with this one he wasn't sure.

"Well there's only one way to find out…" Astrid said, bending down.

The Night Fury let out a surprised squeak at the sudden intrusion of its personal space but was too surprised to do anything.

"Congratulations, it's a girl." Astrid grinned, standing back up a few seconds later.

Hiccup and the dragon wore identical looks of horror on their faces. The dragon for what had just happened and Hiccup for having to witness what had just happened.

**Author's Note:**

**Ha! It's a girl. Bet you weren't expecting that huh? ….You were? …Oh. Yeah I agree that was a slightly awkward moment but awkward moments = funny right? No? …Oh. **

**Well, chapter three already! Nothing special, just a bit more build-up. I promise it will get more interesting in the next chapter. And the rest of the gang will be in it too. And I know what you're thinking. What kind of name is Hitcher? Well, I thought it was cute. ):**


	4. A Good Name is so Hard to Find

**Chapter 4: A Good Name is so Hard to Find**

After the fairly awkward moment that Hiccup vowed to never mention again, the trio continued on their way. The Night Fury looked behind her at the disappearing shadow of old Ymma's house with a wistful sigh. _I hate to admit it, but I think I'm going to miss the place._

Once they reached Hiccup's doorstep, Astrid looked down at the Night Fury with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Well dragon training starts in about 3 hours. What do we do with her until then?"

"Hmm…" Hiccup scratched his chin where the hint of a beard showed up in tiny stubble. "I was thinking we could introduce her to Toothless. He's been away from his own kind for so long, I bet he'll be happy to see another Night Fury."

But Toothless wasn't happy. In fact, he was the exact opposite. He had picked up the scent of the female while he was rummaging around in Hiccup's room, looking for something to entertain himself with. When the foreign scent hit him, he stopped suddenly with his ears perked up. The confused look on his face slowly transformed into an angry scowl. He rushed downstairs and bounded out of the door as soon as it was opened, tackling the female Night Fury in the process.

Hiccup and Astrid let out shocked gasps as they watched the two Night Furies wrestle on the ground in front of them. The female cried out, trying to fend off the enraged Toothless while attempting to let as little damage come to her injured leg and wing as possible. They were starting to make a scene and soon had the attention of a few of the villagers. Hiccup would have intervened immediately but was wary of the chaos of flying claws and tails. Instead he kept calling out Toothless' name in an attempt to distract the dragon but Toothless paid him no mind.

A small crowd had formed and Hiccup was really beginning to worry about the Night Fury's safety. Astrid looked over at him, fear clearly evident in her big blue eyes. "We have to do something!" she said with a slightly hysterical edge to her voice.

Hiccup nodded and they both ran over to the fighting Night Furies and tried to pull them apart. Hiccup was finally able to pry Toothless off the terrified female; a torn sleeve and bleeding upper am were the proof of how much of a struggle the task was. But actually holding onto the giant lizard proved to be even more of a task and Toothless soon broke free of Hiccup's hold with ease; his eyes set determinedly on the retreating figure of the female.

But his path was immediately blocked by a couple of exceptionally burly Vikings. They managed to hold Toothless down long enough until the female was safely out of harm's way. That's when Toothless suddenly calmed down, shrugged off the Vikings and walked back into the house as though nothing happened. And Hiccup couldn't think of a witty line to accompany his dragon's more than peculiar behaviour. He was just too confused.

* * *

"Don't worry girl, you're ok now." Astrid said, trying to calm the distraught Night Fury.

The female was limping around in disoriented circles, occasionally looking over her shoulder. No doubt in the fear of Toothless' possible return. The poor thing was quaking in fear.

_What is _up_ with that stupid reptile?_ Astrid thought with a frown. She'd known dragons of different species weren't all that polite to each other when they first meet but she'd never seen dragons of the same species act so…hostile upon first encounters.

But so little was still known about Night Furies that Astrid wasn't sure whether it was a Night Fury thing or a Toothless thing; she didn't know that Night Furies didn't like the company of other Night Furies (unless they were mates or offspring). That's why it was so rare to see more than two Night Furies in one area; though it was pretty rare to see a Night Fury at all.

The female finally calmed down after she was certain her attacker wouldn't come back.

* * *

The thoughts that were running though Astrid's head were running though Hiccup's as he watched Toothless scampering around in his room. The playful image in front of him was completely different from the Toothless he saw moments ago. He looked up when he heard his door open but quickly averted his gaze when he saw who was standing in the doorway.

"What's this I hear about Toothless attackin' another dragon?" Stoick asked, stepping into Hiccup's room and closing the door behind him.

Hiccup stayed silent for a while; not sure exactly what to say. "Y-yeah… He did." Was all he said, still looking down and it was silent again.

Stoick sighed when he realized he wasn't getting anything more from his son. "If ya can't keep that dragon under control then I have no choice but to-"

"NO dad!" Hiccup shouted, surprising both himself and his father. Even Toothless looked up from the pile of clothing he was ripping apart. "He didn't mean to. He just…I don't know what happened."

Hiccup racked his brain for some sort of justification to excuse his dragon's behaviour. But he gave up trying to explain the situation because truth be told, he didn't, no, _couldn't _understand it.

After another brief moment of silence Stoick spoke again. "I don't know what's gotten into him but it had better not happen again. You know what happens to dragons we can't control."

Hiccup's mouth went dry and for a second he thought his heart had stopped beating. He knew exactly what happened to dragons that just couldn't be tamed and it was something he didn't even want to _think_ about happening to Toothless. He couldn't let that happen.

Hiccup let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. "I'll fix it dad."

Stoick gave a curt nod and headed towards the door. He paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Was it really a Night Fury?"

"Huh?"

Stoick turned around. "I heard from the others that it was another Night Fury Toothless was fighting. Is that true?"

"Um…yeah. Astrid and I found her in the woods yesterday." Hiccup said. Toothless got up from the mess he had made and nudged Hiccup's hand who in turn scratched the dragon in his favourite spot behind his left ear.

Stoick let out a chuckle. "Imagine that. Tha' only Viking in Berk who can't lift a hammer or swing an axe managed to find and capture the rarest dragon of 'em all. Then he turns around and finds another!" Stoick continued to laugh at the pure absurdness of it all.

Hiccup put on a weak smile, not sure if he should join in on the laughter or not. But Stoick soon calmed down, tears in the corners of his eyes. "You've to show me it sometime…away from him a'course." He added, nodding towards Toothless.

Hiccup nodded in agreement and Toothless just sat there.

* * *

"Ok, we're going to meet a few friends of mine ok?" Astrid said to the female Night Fury as they crossed the bridge towards the arena.

They had just spent the past hour and a half at Old Ymma's house (much to Hitcher's displeasure) to get the dragon's bandages re-applied and to take care of her new wounds. Now it was time to meet the others to get ready for dragon training.

"They're pretty normal. Kind of. But I think they might be a little too…excited to see another Night Fury so don't get _too_ freaked out."

The Night Fury was more focused on the fishes swimming and jumping around in the deep waters below than on what Astrid was saying, so she just smiled and stopped talking. Astrid had allowed the dragon to tag along with her to dragon training because there was no one else to look after her. And Astrid wanted to keep an eye on the dragon herself, in case she and Toothless crossed paths.

"Hey everyone," Astrid said in greeting as they neared a small group of people.

There were three teens, around the same age as Astrid, along with five smaller kids. All sitting around. The Night Fury was beginning to get uneasy and slowed her pace to a crawl as they got closer.

Ruffnut was the first to speak. "Woah! So it's true!" she yelled, causing her twin brother – Tuffnut – to cover his ears and grumble in annoyance. Ruffnut promptly sprang up and ran towards the Night Fury, who looked as if she was ready to have a heart attack.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Astrid held out her hands to keep the wild blonde a safe enough distance from the obviously scared dragon.

"I just want to see it!" Ruffnut shouted, trying to claw her way out of Astrid's steel grip and extending an arm out in an attempt to touch the shaking Night Fury.

"You see with your eyes and not your hands!" Astrid retorted. "Hey! Could I get a hand over here?"

Fishlegs decided he had a better chance of holding down Ruffnut than her brother so he walked over to the girls and picked Ruffnut up off the ground, pinning her arms to her sides. She struggled for a while but stopped after she realized her strength surprisingly didn't match Fishlegs'.

"I swear, you're worse than the kids sometimes…" Tuffnut commented, joining the other teens and leaving behind a group of very confused dragon-riders-in-training.

Ruffnut shot her twin a death glare but said nothing. When everyone was sure that Ruffnut would behave, Fishlegs put her down while apologizing profusely for manhandling her. Ruffnut just brushed him off.

By this time the dragon looked as if it was ready to turn tail and run that instant and Astrid had to calm her down for the second time today.

* * *

Astrid and the others had started teaching the young students and that left the Night Fury to site in a far corner of the arena to watch. It wasn't all that exciting and Astrid had a bit of trouble controlling the twins when they got into their too frequent arguments but that seemed to be the only source of entertainment. Hiccup had arrived not too long after training started and thankfully Toothless was not with him.

The Night Fury yawned and turned her gaze to the dragons. There was a Gronckle, a Zippleback and a Nadder. Or more importantly, _Astrid's_ Nadder. It was very clear that he belonged to Astrid. He had greeted the girl with such affection and got the same amount back that there was no question about it. The Night Fury couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous. She'd never had anything, let alone a human, show her any type of affection. Her past experiences with humans have been less than pleasant. But it seems that here, things were completely different. She wouldn't even mind staying…

_No._

The dragon shook her head to clear her thoughts. What was she thinking? She had to leave as soon as she was able to. She had no doubt that _they_ would be looking for her soon. And she didn't want to put these nice humans in any danger.

After dragon training was over everybody was cleaning up and the Night Fury couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Ruffnut kept looking over at the dragon every few seconds, an unrecognizable but still worrying glint in her eyes. And the devious smile she had on wasn't very comforting either.

At the end of the day everyone was sat around a small bonfire, talking about whatever it is young Vikings talk about. Their dragons were off somewhere, doing whatever it is dragons do. But the Night Fury decided to stay behind. She was sat in between Hiccup and Astrid, opposite Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"So have you guys decided what you're going to name her?" Fishlegs asked after Hiccup retold the story of how they came across the Night Fury.

"Well no." They said simultaneously.

In fact, surprisingly, the thought had never occurred to them.

"What about Agnes?" Hiccup suggested.

Astrid made a face. "Ugh. No way."

And soon a barrage of names was being thrown around. One after the other and they didn't seem to be getting any better. No one could seem to agree on a name until Ruffnut tried one more time.

"What about Eir?"

Everyone stopped talking to stare at the girl.

"That's…actually a pretty good name." Astrid said with a bit of astonishment in her voice.

"I never would have thought something pretty would ever come from you." Tuffnut sniggered, which earned him a punch to the back of the head.

"What about a rider?" Ruffnut continued. "Are you going to give her away? You can't just give her to_ anyone_. She's a Night Fury for Thor's sake! Or were you planning on keeping her for yourself. Cause I wouldn't mind…"

"What?" Tuffnut cut off his sister. "You already have a dragon. Crackle, remember?"

"Yeah and I have to share him with _you_!"

And thus another famous Thorston twin argument ensues.

**Author's Note: And that's chapter 4! Sorry it took so long but I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter. I wasn't sure exactly how to have Ruff, Tuff and Fishlegs respond to the new dragon. I hope I didn't make them too OOC. Oh well. Thanks so much for the nice reviews and favs. I really appreciate it. (:**

**The new Night Fury got to meet Toothless like you guys wanted. You can tell they're going to be best friends! 8D**

**And about Ruff's dragon being named Crackle, it's the head that uses sparks to ignite the gas. I am just so original with these names. xD**


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